Current Procedure: 

Contracts for professional services are required for all consulting and professional services $200 and over ($2,000 on speaker/lecturers).  These must be signed by both the vendor and the University prior to work beginning.

Procedure change with implementation of the EFS: 

New transaction types:

VCPS  -  Pay for service under $3,000 - Work is completed before entering CPS document.

QCPS -  Request for services at $3,000 to under $25,000 - Work can not begin until contract is entered, approved and dispatched to vendor.  By beginning work, vendor agrees to terms on dispatched QCPS.  Vendor does NOT sign and return.  

CPS  -    Request for services at $25,000 and above. This contract requires both the vendor and University signatures prior to dispatching the contract AND prior to work beginning. Competitive process or exception to bid required at $50,000 or more.

PCPS -   Request for entertainer / performer contracts - At $3,000+,  they follow the CPS process requiring the vendor and University signatures before work or performance begins.  These will usually use the Performer Agreement form available in Contracts Library as the attachment.

Amendments: 

System includes an electronic amendment form for CPS transactions.

Approvals:

On line approvals are very similar to the current CPS process ie: certified approvers approve when there are sponsored funds; central will review contracts for individuals to determine employee/independent status and Payroll will continue to review all foreign vendor contracts.  Central Purchasing Services buyer is a reviewer of contracts at $25,000 and above.  

Burn Rate Report:

Requestors will receive a report on their CPS transactions that will identify any contracts nearing their expiration date or nearing the end of their encumbered funds so appropriate action can be taken if needed.

What does that really mean for academic departments?

Although this is an expanded number of transaction types, it is really a more streamlined process overall.  By separating the transactions by dollar ranges, we can process the lower dollar contract (under $25,000) with a much simpler process. 

This leaves only 4-6% of the professional services (the larger dollar ones) being processed through the complex CPS process.